Cost of diversity success

Why limit the compensation data to just diversity in tech? If you look at the price tag for the people who lead the D&I efforts of the DiversityInc Top 50 companies, you’ll find salaries that range from $100K to over $200K in industries as varied as healthcare, management consulting, accounting, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, etc. According to Salary.com the median annual diversity executive salary is $163K, with ranges between $139K-$212K, depending on region and other factors. As of Jan 2016, PayScale shows the average pay for a Diversity Manager is $77K. Add in a 15% differential for SF Bay Area salaries and you’re looking at $88.5K. Tech has an interesting double-bind. Leaders say they pay for performance, and tech’s performance with diversity and inclusion is paltry at best. The investment cost to improve is high, assuming that leaders are committed to an overarching strategy (what every successful company has re: D&I) versus a “suite of initiatives” approach. Hope this helps. And thank you for the hard and important work you do every day. I don’t know if your leaders appreciate it as much as they should, but I do.